The present invention relates to ovens, and in particular to ovens, such as combination ovens, that may provide cooking with steam derived from a boiler unit.
Combination ovens provide the ability to cook food using a combination of techniques, typically including both convection and steam. As is understood in the art, convection cooking may employ a fan near the oven heater that circulates heated air throughout the cooking cavity. Steam cooking introduces steam into the cooking cavity, for example, by employing a jet of water to spray water on a convection fan and/or heater (in a “boiler-less” design) such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,045 assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference.
An alternative technique for steam cooking employs a boiler providing a boiler chamber separated from the cooking cavity through a port that may communicate steam from the boiler chamber into the cooking cavity. The boiler holds a volume of water and a separate heater that heats the volume of water to the boiling point under the control of the oven control system. Boiler designs are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,755,005 assigned to the assignee of the present invention and also hereby incorporated by reference.
Combination ovens are versatile and normally used to prepare a range of different foods. in order to prevent flavor transfer between earlier and later foods cooked in the combination oven, the oven may provide for a cleaning cycle in which the interior is cleaned with water, steam, and/or other cleaning materials in between different cooking sessions. A built in spray hose may be provided for the purpose of keeping the oven interior clean and/or an internal set of spray nozzles may be activated by the user as part of a cleaning cycle.
in order to further increase the versatility of such combination ovens, a smoker accessory may be provided. for example, comprising a tray that may hold woodchips and heat them with a contained electrical resistance heater. Combination ovens providing smoking capability are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,317,173 and 7,157,668 both assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference.
A cleaning cycle is typically employed in between cooking cycles of the combination oven including cooking cycles employing a smoking process to reduce the transfer of flavors to subsequently cooked foods.